Judging Criteria

Creativity

  • How innovative is the dish?
  •  How effective is the visual presentation of the dish?

Craftsmanship

  • How difficult are the techniques employed?
  • How well executed are the techniques that have been employed?
  • How well does the dish showcase Ōra King?

Competition Challenge

  • How engaging is the chefs interpretation of the theme; Sustain?
  • How effective is this interpretation as a dish?

Semi-Finalist Judging Process

We want to encourage an interactive dialogue between the chef and the judges – a sharing of ideas and stories. This gives the chef a platform to share their dish inspiration and the opportunity for judges to ask questions.

  • Ideally the judging session will take place outside of service time.
  • There will be one round of tastings. The two judges will visit each of the semi-finalists restaurants together to taste the Best Dish entry. They may be accompanied by an Ōra King representative who will also taste the dish but who will not contribute to the judging process (this will be advised at the time of the booking).
  • The judges or the Ōra King representative will pick up the bill for the Best Dish entries (plus any other food and beverages consumed) at the conclusion of the session. The chef is not expected to carry the cost of their Best Dish entry.
  • The judges will submit their score-cards independently to head office. The top three scored entries will be the finalists – they are invited to New Zealand, the top one scored entry will be the winner – this will be announced in New Zealand.

Japan

For information on the judging process in Japan (link to Japan site).

Judging Dates

The semi-finalist tastings will take place on the following dates.
An Ōra King representative will be in touch to book in the tasting.

New Zealand

  • Auckland: August 19
  • Rest of North Island: August 20
  • Nelson, Marlborough: August 26
  • Rest of South Island: August 27
  • Contingency day: September 2

Australia

  • New South Wales: August 19
  • Queensland: August 20
  •  Victoria: August 26
  • Western Australia, Tasmania, South Australia: August 27
  • Contingency day: September 2

North America

  • East Coast: August 19 – 20
  • West Coast: August 26 – 27
  • Contingency day: September 2

Europe

  • France: August 19
  • Italy: August 20
  • Spain, Portugal: August 26
  •  United Kingdom: August 27
  • Germany, Austria, Switzerland: September 2
  • Contingency day: September 3

Japan

For information on the judging dates in Japan (website link).